Birding Adventures TV has a special announcement to make. For the past 2 months we have been filming our last shows for this season whilst the disaster in the Gulf has raged on. We feel it is our duty to report on this catastrophe and highlight the work that is being done by various non-profits in the clean-up effort.

I will be heading down to the Gulf region at the end of this week to report on this environmental disaster. We will be filming a 13-part documentary in conjunction with Cabelas Fisherman's Handbook. The show will air every Sunday morning prime-time on Fox at 10.00 am local time.

Please tune in as we uncover the devastation to our wildlife, expose the truth and highlight the work of non-profits and government agencies involved in the clean-up effort.

An oiled Brown Pelican in the Gulf

Be sure to catch the Ridgway's Hawk show when it re-airs this week on Fox Sports Net.

Join our Facebook page where you will get sneak previews of shows, updates on our travels and much more!

Although we had many answers to last week's quizz, nobody got it right so be sure to enter again this week and win.

Stay tuned for another Birding Adventure!

THE TV SHOW WHERE BIRDS OF A FEATHER ADVENTURE TOGETHER

PUNTA CANA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC!

PUNTACANA Resort & Club has been a pioneer in sustainable tourism in the Dominican Republic for over 40 years. The company has received numerous awards for its social and environmental initiatives, including the "Tourism for Tomorrow" award from the World Tourism Travel Council and the Conde Nast Traveler "World Saver's Award," both in 2009. The Resort is also responsible for creating the PUNTACANA Ecological Foundation, which for the past 15 years has developed unique solutions to the diverse environmental challenges facing the tourism industry in the Dominican Republic.

PUNTACANA Resort & Club has been a pioneer in sustainable tourism in the Dominican Republic for over 40 years. The company has received numerous awards for its social and environmental initiatives, including the "Tourism for Tomorrow" award from the World Tourism Travel Council and the Conde Nast Traveler "World Saver's Award," both in 2009. The Resort is also responsible for creating the PUNTACANA Ecological Foundation, which for the past 15 years has developed unique solutions to the diverse environmental challenges facing the tourism industry in the Dominican Republic.

The Ecological Foundation has recently spearheaded efforts to protect the highly endangered Ridgway's Hawk (Buteo Ridgwayi) in the Ridgway Hawk Conservation Project together with Peregrine Fund, the Hispaniolan Ornithological Society and local authorities. The project seeks to relocate juvenile hawks to privately held reserves and properties, such as the Puntacana Resort & Club, where the hawk can be protected and the population allowed to recover. In addition, the project has created an Academy for Bird Tourism, where local guides can learn to lead tourists and visitors on guided walks to enjoy the local avifauna. You can learn more about the PUNTACANA Ecological Foundation here.

RIDGWAY'S HAWK!

Ridgway's Hawk(Buteo ridgwayi) is a raptor in the family Accipitridae. Despite the name, this bird is a buteo buzzard and not a true Accipiter hawk.

The Ridgway's Hawk's original breeding range included Haiti and the Domican Republic (which make up the island of Hispaniola) and some of the adjacent isles and keys. As of 2006, its only known population resides within Los Haitises National Park in the northeastern Dominican Republic, which is mostly covered by wet limestone forest.

This is a medium-sized, compact hawk, 36-41 cm long. The adult has brown-grey upperparts, greyish barred underparts with a reddish-brown wash, rufous-tinged thighs and a black-and-white barred tail. The male is greyer than the female. The legs and base of bill are yellow. Immature birds have buffy white underparts with grey and brown streaks.

This bird feeds on small mammals, birds, lizards and snakes. It nests in the crowns of tall trees, with nest-building in February and March and egg-laying in March and April.

This bird is critically endangered due to clearance of its forest habitat and persecution by local farmers, who erroneously believe the species preys on domestic fowl, even though reptiles comprise up to 90% of its diet. It has an estimated population of 80-120 pairs,making it, along with the Bay-breasted Cuckoo (Coccyzus rufigularis), the most threatened bird of Hispaniola.

Nobody correctly identified last week's mystery bird so we are doubling up this week's prize for a lucky winner! Get it right and win an attachable Nikon lens cleaning cloth and a $20 gift voucher to www.nikonprogear.com.